Fire learn home opener, first three games of 2018 schedule

Fire learn home opener, first three games of 2018 schedule

The full 2018 schedule will wait, but for now we know the first three games the Fire will play, including the home opener.

Major League Soccer announced the home opener for all 23 teams on Tuesday and the Fire will begin the season March 3 at the Colorado Rapids. The home opener at Toyota Park will follow the next weekend on March 10 against Sporting Kansas City. The Fire will also travel to play Minnesota on March 17 for the Loons' home opener.

Kickoff at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado, will be 8 p.m. on the opening Saturday of the season. Colorado is 14-3-5 is home openers all time and the two teams also opened the 2010 season in Colorado, which was a 2-2 draw.

Kickoff times for the Fire's home opener and the game in Minnesota remain unannounced. The Fire's trip to Minnesota will be the team's first with the only meeting between the 2017 expansion team and the Fire coming at Toyota Park.

This opening slate of games gives the Fire a good opportunity to get a strong start to the season. Colorado was one of the worst teams in the league in 2017. Minnesota also failed to make the playoffs, although the Loons did win in Toyota Park in late August.

Around the league, a pair of notable matchups during the opening weekend include an Eastern Conference final rematch between Toronto and Columbus, which will be the first game of the season, and the debut of Los Angeles FC, which will take place Sunday, March 4, at Seattle.

The rest of the schedule will be announced in January.

As the offseason marches on, the Fire avoided losing any players in the expansion draft for LAFC and also passed in the waiver and re-entry drafts. Stage 2 of the re-entry draft takes place Thursday and the next notable date on the offseason calender it the draft combine, which begins Jan. 13.

Amid recent drama, David Accam doesn't start, but still scores in Fire loss

Amid recent drama, David Accam doesn't start, but still scores in Fire loss

After venting his frustration at not being selected to the MLS All-Stars by coach Veljko Paunovic, David Accam remained in the spotlight on Saturday.

The Chicago Fire’s Ghanaian winger didn’t start for the second straight match. For the second straight match he came off the bench and scored. Also for the second straight match, Accam’s goal brought the Fire to back within one, but was the final goal of the game in a loss.

With all that in mind, seeing Accam listed among the substitutes instead of the starting lineup before Saturday’s game raised some eyebrows that the report could be accurate.

By the time Accam entered in the 55th minute the Fire were already trailing 3-1. His goal made for a tense finish. Nemanja Nikolic’s header in the 85th minute, which came from an Accam cross, was as close as the Fire came to getting a tying goal. Only a save from Tim Melia denied Nikolic.

With Accam not starting, Juninho filled in as an extra midfielder alongside Bastian Schweinsteiger and the returning Dax McCarty. Patrick Doody got the start at left back with Brandon Vincent still out with a quad injury. That was Doody’s first appearance for the Fire since 2015.

Sporting KC (9-4-9, 36 points) took the lead in the 23rd minute when a Daniel Salloi shot deflected off Schweinsteiger’s calf and gave goalkeeper Matt Lampson no chance. Five minutes later, a Matt Polster cross caused an own goal after Matt Besler sliced an attempted clearance back into his own net.

KC regained the lead just before halftime when Benny Feilhaber bicycle kicked a rebound from point blank range into the goal. Latif Blessing doubled the lead early in the second half.

The Fire (11-5-5, 38 points) have lost consecutive games for the second time this season. After finishing this road trip with a 0-2-1 record, the Fire return home next Saturday against the New England Revolution.

Fire expect tough test in KC, but may have good timing

Fire expect tough test in KC, but may have good timing

If ever there was a time to face Sporting Kansas City, this might be it.

The Chicago Fire head to Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday to take on a Sporting KC team that just traded Dom Dwyer to Orlando. The trade itself is making waves around Major League Soccer for the record-breaking amount of allocation money involved ($1.6 million if incentives are hit), but for the Fire it simply means an opportunity to get a crack at the hosts before they fully regroup without the prolific scorer.

On top of that, Gerso Fernandes, who leads the team with six goals, is suspended for the game for a dangerous tackle last weekend at Real Salt Lake. Other SKC stalwarts Matt Besler and Graham Zusi are returning to the team after starting in and winning Wednesday’s Gold Cup final with the national team. Key defender Ike Opara is listed as questionable after suffering a concussion in a U.S. Open Cup game on July 11.

That’s not to say Sporting won’t still be a tough out, especially at home. KC is undefeated at home (6-0-4) and hasn’t lost in two months. Sporting is on a 10-match unbeaten run, including three wins in the U.S. Open Cup, even with Besler, Zusi and Dwyer missing time while with the national team.

“They are a good team,” Fire winger David Accam said. “We know what they can do. They are really solid at the back also. They tend to win, especially in Kansas, they haven’t lost yet. They haven’t lost a game there and they are a really good team so for us we need to put New York behind us and try to concentrate and focus on the next game.”

The Fire (11-4-5, 38 points) are trying to rebound from a 2-1 loss at New York City FC, the Fire’s first MLS loss since April. The game will air live on CSN+ with coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. with Fire Pregame Live.

KC (8-4-9, 33 points) has allowed a jaw-dropping 15 goals in 21 matches, which is the best total in the league. Central midfielder Ilie Sanchez has proven to be a revelation and helps protect the backline and defend the middle of the field, something the Fire has struggled with a few times this season including the loss in New York.

Even with a potentially shorthanded backline, Kansas City is still a solid defensive team with goalkeeper Tim Melia having a standout season.

“I think for me it’s a great opportunity for us, playing against one of the best teams also in the league, a tough team,” Paunovic said. “A great opportunity to recover the mentality we had and it’s not going to be easy. I think they have a very balanced team, good in attack, good in defense, one of the best in defense obviously in the league, but we have one of the best attacks. I think it’s a great test for this is how we are going to prepare our guys.

“For sure, if we can break this defense, we then can keep believing that we are one of the best attacks and teams in the league. That’s going to be the challenge.”

The Fire will be without Brandon Vincent, who suffered a quad injury in warmups before the game in New York. Michael Harrington filled in at left back. Patrick Doody, who recently returned from a loan spell with USL team Saint Lousi FC, is another option at left back.